More than 150 soldiers in Bangladesh were sentenced to death Tuesday for murder , rape and arson during a 2009 mutiny .

`` The convicts will be hanged by the neck until death , '' ruled Mohammad Akhteruzzaman , a senior judge at the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court , in pronouncing the sentences for the 152 paramilitary border guards .

Seventy-four people , including 57 army officers , were killed in the mutiny at the headquarters of Bangladesh 's border guards in Dhaka in February 2009 .

Investigators initially brought charges against 850 people , including 23 civilians , but the final judgment was against 846 people . Four suspects died in custody .

The accused troopers were indicted on charges of murder , rape , arson , looting weapons and conspiracy .

`` We had long been waiting for the verdict and it has cleansed the image of the force stained by the massacre , '' said Maj. Gen. Aziz Ahmed , who now leads the border guards .

Several thousand armed soldiers of the Bangladesh Rifles -LRB- BDR -RRB- unit took control of their own headquarters in the capital for two days and massacred scores of people , including officers of the Bangladesh Army who were stationed with the BDR .

The civilians in the case include a former lawmaker from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party , Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu , and an Awami League leader , Torab Ali .

State prosecutor Mosharrof Hossain Kazal told CNN that 161 people , including Pintu and Ali , were sentenced to life in prison .

A total of 262 people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three years to 10 years and 271 were acquitted of the charges against them .

`` We may appeal against those who were acquitted , '' Kazal said .

Shamim Sardar , an attorney for one of those sentenced Tuesday , told reporters justice had not been done and vowed to appeal to a higher court .

The mutiny erupted less than two months after the present Awami League government -- led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina -- came to power in January 2009 in a landslide victory .

According to the charges , the border guards took up weapons , killed the officers , and held the families of the officers hostage in the staff apartments inside the headquarters compound .

The dead also included the then-chief of the border guards , Maj. Gen. Shakil Ahmed , and his wife .

The soldiers demanded better pay and perks , as well as the withdrawal of all army officers from the forces .

The government later renamed the BDR the Border Guards of Bangladesh . The prime responsibility of the force , which works under the ministry of home affairs , is to guard the country 's 4,000-kilometer -LRB- 2,485-mile -RRB- border with India and Myanmar .

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Some defense attorneys plan to appeal the sentences

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74 people were killed in the 2009 takeover of the Bangladesh Rifles headquarters

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Civilians were also prosecuted in connection with the mutiny , including two lawmakers

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As many as 850 people were initially charged after the mutiny